Saturday, July 17, 2010

"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." - John Benfield

Is it always good to be a high-achiever? Yes. Is it always good to be a 'visible' high-achiever? Probably not.

It is good to be eagle but know where the jet engines are. Don't just soar too high too soon before you know the paths of jet engines around you.

Do not get too much exposure for yourself and your achievements before you know the political landscape. There are many people who will feel jealous of you for no good reason. For them being jealous is part of their constitution. They want to see others take a fall all the time. So, if you are a high-achiever and soar high very soon, chances are sometimes you get sucked into jet engines set up for you by these people.

They say, there are 2 ways to enter a swimming pool. One is do a deep dive. If lucky, you will make a gracious dive, make a big flash and everybody will be awed. If not, you will make a big splash, get everybody around you soaking wet and if the depth is not enough, you may not come up after breaking your skull.

There is another way too to enter a pool. That is to slowly enter in the shallow end by testing the water for depth, warmth and quality. Get into the pool slowly, check out who all are swimming, get your laps done, get exercise, feel good and get out without much noise.

Question is - is it necessary for you to ensure that others notice you? More attention you crave for, more energy you will need to manage the attention you get. If you do well, demand attention, rest assured you will get far more attention than you may have originally hoped for. But, for what? Why do you need unnecessary attention and all the headaches that come with it? Is it not better to devote the energy that goes in managing the attention to achieve more and more. In a quiet fashion.

Anonymity is very good. Crave for it. People who crave for popularity get it relatively easily. Then either they get hooked to it and their worth depends on how others feel about them or they start hating the publicity and associated headaches. Soar like eagles but stay out of jet engines. 'I rather soar in the company of eagles than walk in the company of ducks."

Friday, July 16, 2010

Who criticizes? Not the people who are playing the game. They do not have time and energy. They are focused on the game. It's the watchers. They never play a game, let alone a good game. All they do is to criticize.

You do one way, they criticize. They do other way, they criticize. There is no way to please them. Ask them to do it themselves or show you how to do, they do not. They are not there. Sometimes they come to play. When they are unable to play well, they just say - 'We just came to watch and you made us play. We are going back.'

It's amazing that people can spend days, years and their careers criticizing others. You know what happens if you keep doing that for too long? You become a hopeless cynic. You see value in nothing. You become defeatist. You become an apathetic worm. Nobody ever wants to have you on their team. 'If you do not feel good, at least look good.'

"More people have been fired for bad attitude than poor aptitude."

"If you are not fired up with enthusiasm. You will be fired with enthusiasm."

Friday, July 09, 2010

"There was once a minister to a great king. The king, displeased with the minister, ordered him to be confined in the top of a very high tower. This was done, and the minister was left there to perish.His wife came to the tower at night and called to her husband. The minister said to her, "No use weeping." He told her to take a little honey, a beetle, silken thread, a pack of fine thread, a ball of twine and a rope. She tied the silk thread to one of the legs of the beetle and put honey on top of its head and let it go with its head up. The beetle slowly crept onwards, in the hope of reaching the honey, until at last it reached the top of the tower, when the minister grasped the beetle, and got possession of the silken thread, then the pack thread, then the stout twine and lastly the rope. The minister descended from the tower by the means of the rope and made his escape.

In this body of ours the breath motion is the "silken thread"; by laying hold of it we grasp the pack thread of nerve currents, and from these stout twine of our thoughts, and lastly the rope of Prana, controlling which we reach freedom."

Sunday, July 04, 2010

"The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place." - George Bernard Shaw

What more can you say?

"Listen to understand. Understand to respond."

I think most of the people start thinking about how to respond as soon as you start saying something. That's why they do not get even a fraction of what you said. And some are of course hopeless cases of multitasking victims.

Communicate in very small bits. Wait to make sure what you communicated has been understood and proceed only afterwards.